Floreana Island
We boarded the pangas (local name for the Zodiacs) at 7:00 a.m. and motored across a glass smooth sea to the crescent beach at Post Office Bay. Disembarking in mid-calf deep water, we waded ashore and climbed up the warm sandy beach, following in the footsteps of the whalers, sealers and yachtsmen who came before us to deposit their mail in the old wooden barrel we found behind the beach. Our Naturalists, Rafael, Alexandra and Gabriel, told the tale of this traditional hand delivery mail swap system which these days is sometimes faster than the Ecuadorian mail! Our guests left their post cards and picked up ones that they would be able to deliver in a few days to addresses near their own homes.
Following breakfast we enjoyed a long and leisurely snorkel around the islet of Champion. The water was cool, clear and teeming with fish of many varieties. Huge schools of king angels were feeding near the surface and we swam among them, marveling at the brilliant orange of their tails contrasting with a deep purple body which is dissected by a bright vertical white stripe. Lovely fish, and there were hundreds of them! We saw huge schools of gray chubs and "gringos" and could have identified at least twenty other species. White tipped reef sharks slept on a shelf and once they were disturbed they cruised slowly in circles below us. Sea lions joined us and swam below and behind and around us in graceful loops which, when we tried to copy and follow them left us breathless and laughing. This morning we had time to snorkel to our heart’s content: and indeed there was not one of us who was not feeling just that – extremely contented – when we finally were tired and chilled and climbed into the pangas.
In the afternoon we had options: deep water snorkeling at Devil’s Crown, sea kayaking from the Baronessa’s Bay back to the ship, and then hiking from the olivine beach along the cindery trail at Punta Cormorant. Each outing was superb: the snorkelers returned exuberant with all they had seen, the kayakers explored the turquoise bay where tens of sea turtles swam and then paddled across a flat sea back to the ship as the sun came out hot and strong. They marveled that they reached the ship so painlessly – thinking that it was going to be a long hard paddle – but it was not.
On the hike we found flamingos, both adults and young ones, in the brackish lagoon and crossed over the point to a sea turtle nesting beach composed of fine white sand. As the sun set and the afternoon turned golden, our guests may have wondered what we could possibly do tomorrow that could be as exciting and interesting – as outstanding and different – as each day of this expedition has so far been. I know: Española Island and the waved albatross are waiting.
We boarded the pangas (local name for the Zodiacs) at 7:00 a.m. and motored across a glass smooth sea to the crescent beach at Post Office Bay. Disembarking in mid-calf deep water, we waded ashore and climbed up the warm sandy beach, following in the footsteps of the whalers, sealers and yachtsmen who came before us to deposit their mail in the old wooden barrel we found behind the beach. Our Naturalists, Rafael, Alexandra and Gabriel, told the tale of this traditional hand delivery mail swap system which these days is sometimes faster than the Ecuadorian mail! Our guests left their post cards and picked up ones that they would be able to deliver in a few days to addresses near their own homes.
Following breakfast we enjoyed a long and leisurely snorkel around the islet of Champion. The water was cool, clear and teeming with fish of many varieties. Huge schools of king angels were feeding near the surface and we swam among them, marveling at the brilliant orange of their tails contrasting with a deep purple body which is dissected by a bright vertical white stripe. Lovely fish, and there were hundreds of them! We saw huge schools of gray chubs and "gringos" and could have identified at least twenty other species. White tipped reef sharks slept on a shelf and once they were disturbed they cruised slowly in circles below us. Sea lions joined us and swam below and behind and around us in graceful loops which, when we tried to copy and follow them left us breathless and laughing. This morning we had time to snorkel to our heart’s content: and indeed there was not one of us who was not feeling just that – extremely contented – when we finally were tired and chilled and climbed into the pangas.
In the afternoon we had options: deep water snorkeling at Devil’s Crown, sea kayaking from the Baronessa’s Bay back to the ship, and then hiking from the olivine beach along the cindery trail at Punta Cormorant. Each outing was superb: the snorkelers returned exuberant with all they had seen, the kayakers explored the turquoise bay where tens of sea turtles swam and then paddled across a flat sea back to the ship as the sun came out hot and strong. They marveled that they reached the ship so painlessly – thinking that it was going to be a long hard paddle – but it was not.
On the hike we found flamingos, both adults and young ones, in the brackish lagoon and crossed over the point to a sea turtle nesting beach composed of fine white sand. As the sun set and the afternoon turned golden, our guests may have wondered what we could possibly do tomorrow that could be as exciting and interesting – as outstanding and different – as each day of this expedition has so far been. I know: Española Island and the waved albatross are waiting.
